Rdio – Taking the Guesswork out of Making the Perfect Playlist

Most Read

Technology has turned the process of discovering new music into something that's done in isolation on your computer. Rdio brings music back to its social roots by initiating interaction among music lovers with similar tastes. Brought to us by the creators of Skype and Kazaa, Rdio is a service that combines social networking and music. You can download it onto your laptop ($4.99 per month) or bundle it with an app for your smartphone ($9.99). Once you subscribe, you can search Rdio for your favorite artists and songs to create playlists and collections that will stream through your headphones or speakers for hours without interruption.

In my opinion, Rdio outdoes the popular Internet radio source "Pandora" in accessibility and definitely in size (Pandora has 750,000 songs, Rdio has 7 million). It can be accessed with any 3G/4G network for the best streaming experience, doesn't have any ads, and allows you to skip or repeat songs. And don't worry if you've spent a considerable amount of time and money building your iTunes account, everything you've invested in will seamlessly make its way in to your Rdio library. As Rdio doesn't physically store any music files to the hosting device, all songs on your personal Rdio account can be accessed from any desktop, laptop, or smartphone.

Do you have hundreds of songs in your music "closet" but nothing to listen to? No problem! With Rdio, you can interface with Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and even make new friends with similar music interests to find new songs and artists to add to your music library. You can also write a review of any song, album, playlist, or artist to defend your musical preferences or read your follower's reviews to better understand their's. Then subscribe to your friends' playlists or mix and match to create an album that fits your mood. For instance, add your favorite acoustic solo record to your follower's "Rainy Day" playlist and hit play to complete a lazy afternoon.